Brayton Barff Through the Seasons.
Set in the Vale of York, South West of the market town of Selby and between the villages of Thorpe Willoughby and Brayton, lies Brayton Barff, a sandstone Hill approximately one hundred and fifty feet in height which was formed by glacial movement during the last Ice Age. It is a significant landmark in an otherwise flat landscape.
Today the site is primarily owned by Yorkshire Water with Selby District Council owning a small patch of the land adjacent to the A63 Selby bypass. A large underground reservoir occupies the centre of the site which delivers water to around 4.7 million customers throughout Yorkshire.
Within the Barff woodland over 40% of the trees are Sessile Oak which are generally found in semi natural woodlands in the north of the country. These trees are so called because its acorns are not held on stalks, like those of the English Oak (Pedunculate), but attached directly to the outer twigs. There are also several English Oak trees as well as some cross-hybrid oaks. These trees are known to support many species of flora and fauna, invertebrates, mosses, lichen and fungi.
During the Victorian times it is thought that the shipbuilders on the east coast would come over to the Barff for selected cuts of timber to build their sea going vessels.
The Barff also has a variety of other trees including Silver Birch, Beech, Sycamore, Holly, Rowan, Scots Pine, Alder, Hawthorne and European Larch. There are also several Yew, Willow, Hazel, Horse Chestnut and Wych Elm. As with similar woodlands there are a variety of bushes, including Honeysuckle, Elderberry, Gorse, Broom and Buddleia.
The history of Brayton Barff is quite vague, apparently during 1803 a beacon was lit on the Barff when the country was threatened with an invasion by Napoleon. In May 1935, to celebrate King George V's Silver Jubilee, a Bonfire was lit on the Barff as part of the celebrations.
Early issues of Ordnance Survey Maps dated 1903 clearly show a rifle range on the Barff, extending out to Mill Lane. During the 
Second World War 1939-1945 a Prisoner of War Camp was built on the site. Today, nothing is left of these buildings less some areas to the South and West of the Barff where some of the brick foundations may be seen.
Between 2001 – 2004 the A63 Selby bypass, 10km twin lane single carriageway was constructed which severed the South West corner of the Barff, adjacent to Selby Golf Course and resulted in a slight redesign of several holes on the golf course. Wooden fencing was erected as a result of this new road running alongside of the Barff and a footbridge constructed over the ‘new road’ following the line of the Bridal way which extends from Mill Lane. Around 2005/2006 a definite 2metre wide limestone aggregate footpath was laid forming a circular path around the outer edges of the woodland. This footpath is approximately 1.2 miles in length and takes about 30 minutes to circumnavigate at a leisurely pace.
In 2012 the Barff was declared an Ancient Oak Woodland and as such throughout 2012 and 2013 significant work had been carried out by the relevant agencies to cut and remove large swathes of non-native trees, creating at that time huge scars on the landscape. Some three years later the planting of the native trees have become well established and are flourishing. Ongoing maintenance work on the footpath around the bottom of the Barff was completed during the Summer of 2016.
A second phase of woodland maintenance commenced during the Autumn of 2019 with the removal of many old and diseased trees and the cutting back of the Gorse and Broom bushes, especially adjacent to the ‘bypass trail’, this work continued through till March 2020 with re planting continuing into April 2020.
Brayton Barff is a popular site for walkers and bird watchers alike and a path circling the outer perimeter of the Barff makes a pleasant thirty minute walk, giving views looking over towards Selby and the village of Brayton as well as the power stations of Drax and Eggborough..jpg)
For the early risers it is a great place to see some stunning sunrises over the villages of Brayton looking towards Drax Power Station, the same with the Sunsets looking over towards Eggborough and Monk Fryston.
The Barff changes with the Seasons and every visit can reveal something new, the woodland is a haven for wildlife. Records show that since 1982 one hundred and twelve species of bird have been seen in the woodland and at least 40 of those have bred here, including Tawny Owl, Buzzard, Green Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Goldcrest and Nuthatch to name just a few. On average over 70 species of bird are recorded each year. Further details of the bird life on the Barff can be found on the Brayton Barff Group Facebook page, especially the posts from Derek Cooper. Today ‘The Friends of Brayton Barff group’ led by Derek and a small team of volunteers help keep and maintain the cleanliness of the site as well as recording the wildlife and bird sightings.
The Barff is also home to fifteen different species of mammals, including Muntjac Deer, Pipistrelle Bat, Fox, and Field Vole.
Over eighty species of plant and wildflowers have been recorded, included Bee Orchid, Northern Marsh Orchid, Wood Anemone, Marsh Ragwort, Bluebell, White Bluebell, Bittersweet and Purple and White Foxgloves. Over twenty species of Butterfly have been recorded, including Marbled White, Brown Angus, Speckled Wood, Comma and Brimstone.
During the Autumnal months fungi thrives in this woodland environment, species including Fly Agaric, Beefsteak Tree Fungi, Chicken of the Wood, Sulphur Tufts, Stinkhorn, Ink cap, Puffballs and Hoof Bracket are just some of the many varieties that can be found here.
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January 2023
A Happy New Year to you all.
Here we are in the heart of the Winter months, no snow yet but several hard frosts, I’ve seen the temperature gauge drop to -4C on three or four occasions during the latter part of January.
The first half of the month though continued with the mild, unsettled and wet theme of the last two weeks of December, some parts of the country saw their average rainfall for the whole of January within the first two weeks. Again, though, this proved to be a month of two halves, with much drier and colder weather here in North Yorkshire from the middle of the-month, and saw temperatures gradually edged upwards in the final week to somewhere near or slightly above average. This was also a particularly sunny January with some beautiful sunrises on the Barff. The early morning sunshine and hard overnight frosts made for some beautiful early morning walks on the Barff with Meg and Gracie.
As the nights shorten and the days lengthen, the birds are beginning to become a little more active as the month comes to an end. Redpoll and Bulfinch have been quite active around the woodland, Greater spotted woodpeckers are busily preparing their nest holes for their new arrivals in spring, I have seen an awful lot of Robins too, busily scratting around amongst the fallen autumn leaves. Great Tits, Blue Tits and Goldfinch can be seen around the woodland, and occasionally I catch a glimpse of the Long-Tailed Tits. The Nuthatch have been relatively quiet this past six weeks or so but as the month draws to a close, they have become more frequent. Wrens seem to pop up everywhere around the woodland, their short upright bobbin tail and beautiful song always give their game away.
The Grey Squirrels are becoming more active, especially once the early morning sun reaches the woodland trees and starts to warm up the cold morning air.
We have had several misty, foggy mornings which has made the Barff quite atmospheric, the low cloud seems to have hugged the ground yet you could still see the spire of St Wilfred’s church poking through the mist.
One of my highlights this month has been the beautiful sunrises and especially those after a hard overnight frost, several mornings we have also had an hard hore frosts, covering the trees in a large white frosty blanket.
It is nice to see the Gorse bushes starting to flower again the tiny yellow florets providing an early source of nectar for bees and butterflies.
The early green shoots of the Bluebells are just beginning to poke through the leaf litter on the woodland floor, it will be several months yet before we see them flowering.
Yellow Brain fungus is popping up around the Barff at the moment, though the woodland provides the ideal habitat for it. Apparently, according to European legend, if yellow brain fungus appeared on the gate or door of a house, it meant that a witch had cast a spell on the family living there. The only way the spell could be removed was by piercing the fungus several times with straight pins until it went away. This is why yellow brain also has the common name of 'witches’ butter'. In Sweden, yellow brain fungus was burnt to protect against evil spirits.
Other fungi visible at this time of year on the Barff is the commonly called the Candle snuff fungus, it appears throughout the year but is particularly noticeable during late autumn and winter months.
There have been some sightings also of Scarlet Elf Cup fungi near to the car park, I haven’t found it yet but will continue to search for it.
The Catkins continue to grow apace and add some colour on the Barff, some look to have grown by two centimetres this month. The catkins can be found on the Hazel, Alder, Silver Birch and Oak trees on the Barff, the Hazel Catkins are quite prolific at the moment. Male catkins are 4-5cm long and yellow-brown in colour. They hang in groups of two to four at the tips of shoots, like lambs' tails. Female catkins are smaller, short, bright green and erect. Once pollinated, female catkins thicken and change colour to a dark crimson. Masses of tiny seeds are borne in autumn – they have tiny ‘wings’ on each side of the seed to help them travel on the wind. The Catkins we see at this time of year are primarily on the Hazel trees. The Alder trees flower during February to March, Silver Birch from March to May and latterly the Oak trees from April to May.
The footfall on the Barff has increased significantly of late as a consequence of the new housing developments surrounding the woodland, this increase brings with it more cars into the car park, and more people visiting the woodlands, many of them dog owners, sadly, as a consequence of the latter I have seen a significant rise in the number of ‘dog poo bags’ left on the floor at the side of the paths or even worse hanging from trees. The mentally of the people leaving bags like this is beyond me. Many of the excuses are that they will pick the bags up when they pass by again, unfortunately they don’t. I walk around the Barff at least three times most mornings and every day I can see the same bag hanging there., For several weeks now, since Christmas, on a weekend I, along with other dog owners, scour the Barff picking up these bags, last Saturday, I alone, collected 50 of these bags and disposed of them in the poo bins provided for such matter. There are three red bins, specifically for dog waste around the woodland, so there really is no excuse for people to leave their dogs waste at the side of the path or hanging from trees (Rant over).
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